* Why does John Smith have an American accent, when America is the New World, has not been exposed to English, and therefore the American accent does not exist?
** The film was made by an American company. Pocahontas is a native American. John Smith, within the film, is a new American. All the bad guys are English. Handy way to avoid criticising your main audience.
** Because he's voiced by Mel Gibson.
*** So...how come he doesn't have an Australian accent?
*** Because Mel Gibson doesn't have an Australian accent. Gibson lived in America until he was twelve, and as of 1995 had lived there again for about a decade; he didn't have a pure American accent, but it was closer to American than Australian.
** The modern-day "British accent" also didn't exist in colonial times--in fact, between the American accent and the modern-day "British accent," the American accent is closer to the common ancestor that they diverged from.
*** That still doesn't explain why John Smith has an American accent but the rest of the crew have British accents.
** John Smith is spending time with the natives and has been to the New World before. The other colonists were unfamiliar with the new land, and unwilling to get familiar with it. Their accent shows their stand-offishness from the new place and people.
*** ... or at least it would if John hadn't had that American accent before he even met the natives, and before he even left England.
*** You have your Doylian answer. If you're looking for a Watsonian answer, John Smith travels and adventures in the New World a lot, gleefully retelling the stories of his adventures battling the natives. Even within a single nation, different regions of that nation will develop different accents. John Smith's peers may well be on their first ever voyage away from England, while John's been traveling all his life. It's understandable that his accent, developing in traveling crews and faraway nations, would be completely different from that of the local Brits.
** Of course, at several points, he does appear to be trying an English accent. Or that could be leftover Aussie inflection. And his Australian accent was pretty thick back in the '80s. Let's just say that due to his history, Mel's accent is an enigma that may never be solved.
* In 1607, the English and the Scots still hated each other's guts. So why the hell is there a Scottish man in the settlers, when the rest are exclusively English? They'd ostracise him! As a history nerd, this just bugs me.
** PoliticallyCorrectHistory I guess. By the way, I don't recommend expecting historical accuracy from Disney.
** The idea that hostility between the two nations (who shared a common land border and even the same king) would mean, after generations of migration, that there wouldn't be any Scots in a given profession in England is very implausible.
** If I recall correctly, it was a case of reality writing the script. The Scottish voice-actor of the character ''tried'' to do an English accent, but it hurt his throat so much they gave up.
*** If they wanted him to do an English accent, why in the name of God did they cast BILLY CONNOLLY for the role?
** England was under the rule of a Scottish king at the time. Tensions can't have been so high as to not allow for a Scottish settler to be on the crew.

* In Pocahontas II, Percy seemed to be afraid of Ratcliffe. In the first movie, Percy seemed to enjoy being Ratcliffe's dog even though he chose to stay in Virginia. Why was Percy afraid of Ratcliffe?
** Probably because Percy thought that Ratcliffe would start treating him badly because he decided to stay with the "savages." Essentially, his thought process was "Ratcliffe hates the people I'm staying with, so he's going to hate me, too."
* Perhaps I just missed something, but why does Percy decide to stay in Virginia, anyway? I mean, he chose to stay in a world where wild animals can attack him, there is a sentient willow tree, and worst of all, there is an evil raccoon that makes his like miserable at any opportunity. Not to mention that his new owner has a penchant for dangerous behavior. Why didn't he just go back to his sheltered and pampered lifestyle?
** Hadn't Meeko made friends with him by that point?
*** I really don't understand how they became friends. After all the crap Meeko put Percy through, how are they suddenly friendly by the end of the movie?
*** Outside of the context of the film, the two of them are intended to mirror the conflict between the natives and the settlers (John Smith even makes this allusion at one point), who eventually come to a peaceful understanding. Within the context of the film, Percy starts being pally with Meeko when the raccoon comes and comforts him when he gets scared following the murder of Kocoum and John Smith's capture.
*** Yeah, but then in the sequel, Meeko starts acting like the troll has was earlier. It could be a simple case of {{Flanderization}}, but I personally think the whole friendship thing was all just part of Meeko's BatmanGambit. With more pets, Pocahontas has to supply food for both of them, leading to a greater food supply overall. Meeko can easily steal Percy's share of the food and get away with it every single time. Looking at events in the beginning of the sequel, this seems to have worked out for him. To Meeko, Percy is just a means to an end; he only keeps him around for more food.
*** It's also possible Meeko represents the settlers with its theft of Percy's food/resources and his unwanted presence in Percy's area/lands and Percy is the Indians' counterpart.
*** That puts a different spin on Percy and Meeko having exchanged looks when they repair Pocahontas's necklace, with Percy dressed in a buckskin cloak and feathered headdress while Meeko wears Percy's fancy ruffled collar...

* When the settlers arrive in Virginia, Ratcliffe claims the land "In the name of King James I of England". Surely "the first" wasn't necessary until James II came to the throne? Similarly, James was also king of Scotland (he was James VI of Scotland) but that wasn't mentioned. Was the Union flag he planted the correct one (ie. lacking St. Patrick's cross within the St. Andrew's cross)? It's been that long since I saw the movie, I can't remember.
** Disney probably didn't want to confuse people on which James he was talking about.
** Maybe Jimmy just really liked the idea of adding "the first" to his title, so he could sound cooler.
*** Case in point, "[[Franchise/StarWars The Republic will be reorganized into THE FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE!]]"
** Actually, one is never supposed to refer to a king as So-and-so the first while he is alive. That would imply that there might someday be a So-and-so the second, which in turn implies that the current So-and-so might someday die. And to imagine the death of the king is treason. But yes, the Union Jack at that time had only the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, not St. Patrick, because Ireland had at that time not been incorporated into the Union, and would not be until 1801. Actually, the movie seems to change randomly between the pre-1801 Union Jack (with just St. George and St. Andrew) and the 1801 Union Jack (with St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick).
*** No, that doesn't work. This is A christian nation (A religion basing itself on God himself dying, not Empire of the God-King or Mao's China. That king would know (And so would every other person) that he was going to die, because so had EVERY other king before him (As was every other person on the planet). So suggesting the king would "oneday not be king" would not only be spot on, saying there would oneday be X the II was saying X the I was such a great king his name would be used later on (Atleast thats what you tell them)
*** Your point is entirely logical and reasonable, but it is still wrong as a matter of historical fact. It is a serious violation of protocol to refer to a living, reigning king as so-and-so the first, for the reason I've already explained. It may seem crazy, but it's true.
*** When was the last time you heard someone refer to Queen Victoria I? Or King John I? Or King Stephen I (not to be confused with Creator/StephenKing...)? When a monarch is the only bearer of the name, they are never referred to as the first, simply because there is no other from which they need to be distinguished.
*** (At least in Germany) it's common to refer to the Austrian emperors as Franz I., Ferdinand I., Franz Joseph I. and Karl I., despite there's no II. for either of their names (no Austrian II., that's it).
*** What answer do you people expect to hear? The writers were lazy. End of story. What else is there to argue about.
*** The fact that laziness would only be an excuse if they were factually wrong. For example, if Ratcliffe were calling him King James IV or King Henry VIII. This wasn't lazy writing, this was dumbing things down for a younger audience. Remember: childrens' movie.
*** But just saying "King James" would be simpler still... and more accurate.
*** Childrens' movie? Hah, only superficially. In truth, it was designed to appeal to adults because the subject matter was in fact adult subject matter.
** Actually, James was one of the few who was *very occasionally* referred to as The First when alive, because he was King James the Sixth of Scotland. Early in his reign before he formally united them, it was occasionally written - and never on anything official - as "King James the Sixth of Scotland and First of England".
*** This. Also, consider it political grandstanding in-universe. Keep in mind that while the Scots and English were not at each others' throats due to the shared king (and a period of peace and better integration that had started well before with both of them fighting the Catholic Habsburg Empire), that didn't mean there were not tensions. By claiming the land in the name of "King James the First" they are explicitly saying it is a possession of the King of *England* and the English Crown, not of the Scottish Crown or some sort of joint holding (while using both titles could cause and just using the name alone could cause unpleasant legal ambiguities that could translate to a Scottish claim). By saying that, it means that even if the young union did break and Scotland went back to being a foreign or even hostile nation, Jamestown will stay English. Considering the fact that the "Darien Disaster" occurring a century of unity later saw an attempted Scottish colony being cut off from English and Dutch trade and support [[RightHandVersusLeftHand by the ruler of England, Scotland, and the Netherlands]], it's hard to say there wasn't tension.

* How old is Pocahontas here? Did they age her, or is she just a really mature looking little girl?
** Yes, they aged her up. The movie's not really big on historical accuracy.

* What happened to all the soldiers who appeared in London, who by their purple uniforms appear to be some kind of private household guard for Ratcliffe, who stand at the ready at the docks and onboard the ship, but when the ships arrives in the New World are nowhere to be seen with all the fighting done by the settlers?
** Perhaps they are just there for ceremonial reasons - for the departure of the ship. They don't actually go with them to America.

* This is a kid's movie, so I'm willing to buy the magic of "Listen With Your Heart" will overcome the language barrier and make Pocahontas bilingual in two seconds flat. But what about the others? When John Smith finds Pocahontas and Nakoma, they're speaking in English but from the way Nakoma reacts, she clearly understands what's being said. How's that supposed to work?
** Who says she understands the words? Pocahontas casually speaks to John as if she knows him and John does likewise. Pocahontas doesn't react with fear but with familiarity, and that's what Nakoma is shocked at.
** Or maybe the magic is more complicated than that. John speaks English that Pocahontas hears as her language, and she speaks Powhatan that John hears as English. In that case, Nakoma would understand Pocahontas's "what are you doing here?" spoken in Powhatan.
** Who says Pocahantas was speaking English? What I always wondered was why Thomas was able to hear Pocohantas.
* Why was Thomas able to hear Pocohantas? Was the magic cast on him as well?
** When do they ever communicate normally? The only times they interact is when Pocahontas has to be restrained from attacking him (Pocahontas does say "you killed him" and Thomas stammers "I thought that..." but that doesn't have to be responding to her specifically) and when she puts her hand on his shoulder after he tries to reassure her at the end - and then it's either just her understanding him and communicating non-verbally, or neither of them understanding each other.

* If Ratcliffe was a "pathetic social climber who failed at everything" then why the hell was he ever highly recommended as an employer to Wiggins? If Wiggins said "And he came so highly recommended" as an IronicEcho, then in-universe he'd have to have been recommended by somebody. Surely, there must have been more successful members of James' court that Wiggins could have been recommended as an employer.